Reggie Walton
Reggie Barnett Walton (born Donora, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1949) is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Early life and education Walton's father worked two jobs in the steel town Donora in which the young Walton appeared in court three times over gang fighting. Walton credits an incident in which a friend nearly killed a rival with an icepick with convincing him to turn towards academics. He won a football scholarship to get his Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia State College in 1971, and then a law degree from The American University, Washington College of Law, in 1974. Judge Walton is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans. Career Walton served as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1981 to 1989 and from 1991 to 2001. He also served as associate director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In 2001, he was nominated to be a federal bench by President George W. Bush, and subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 2004, Bush appointed him to chair a the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, investigating ways to curb prison rape. In May 2007, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr. appointed him to a seat on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Despite his appointments by Republican officials, The Washington Post reported, "fellow judges and lawyers who appear before him say Walton's decisions do not appear to be guided by politics but by a tough-on-crime mentality." Walton is known by local defense attorneys as a "long ball hitter" - a judge willing to impose long sentences in order to deter future crimes. In fall 2005, the judge was driving his wife and daughter to the airport for a vacation when he came across an assailant attacking a cab driver on the side of the road. Walton tackled the assailant and subdued him until police arrived. The D.C. police spokesperson noted in response, "God bless Judge Walton. I surely wouldn't want to mess with him.""Libby Jurist's Career Built on Toughness", The Washington Post, June 5, 2007 Cases presided over Past cases United States v. Libby Walton also presided over the trial of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Scooter Libby. On March 6, 2007, the jury convicted Libby of four of the five counts with which he was charged: two counts of perjury, one of obstruction of justice, and one of making false statements to federal investigators.Diary of the Leak Trial, The New York Times, updated periodically, accessed June 23, 2007. On June 5, 2007, Walton sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison and a fine of US$250,000, and, subsequently, he ordered that Libby report to jail without bail pending any appeals.Neil A. Lewis and David Stout, "Judge Won't Delay Libby Prison Term", The New York Times, 14 June 2007, accessed 16 June 2007. On June 20, 2007, Libby appealed Walton's ruling in federal appeals court.Associated Press, "Libby Appeals Sentencing Ruling", New York Times, 20 June 2007, accessed 20 June 2007. The next day, Walton filed a 30-page expanded ruling, in which he explained his decision to deny Libby bail in more detail.Josh Gerstein, "Libby Judge Files Expanded Opinion: Details Decision Not Allowing Libby to Remain Free", New York Sun, June 22, 2007, accessed June 22, 2007. Walton received several threatening letters after pronouncing sentence on Libby. Tripoli Rocketry Association, Inc. and National Association of Rocketry v. United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Walton was the presiding judge in a long-running case brought by the 2 largest hobby rocketry organizations, which challenged the inclusion of certain types of solid fuel rocket propellant on the list of "explosives" regulated by the BATFE. On March 16, 2009, Walton ruled in favor of the rocketry organizations.http://www.rocketryplanet.com/images/pdf/ATFE-03-16-09.pdf Current cases Mohammon v. Bush Walton presided over Mohammon v. Bush, a set of amalgamated habeas corpus petitions, submitted on behalf of Guantanamo captives. Hatfill v. John Ashcroft et al. Walton has been presiding over the lawsuit that Steven Hatfill filed against former US Attorney General John Ashcroft."Anthrax 'person of interest' sues Ashcroft, FBI", CNN, 27 August 2003. Ashcroft publicly described Hatfill as a "Person of interest" in the FBI's investigations into the 2001 anthrax attacks. On March 30, 2007, Walton issued an order warning Hatfill that he may lose his civil lawsuit over the leaks if he does not compel journalists to name their sources and giving Hatfill until April 16, 2007, to decide whether to do so. , United States District Court for the District of Columbia Civil Action No. 03-1793.See Josh Gerstein, "Judge Urges Hatfill To Compel Outing of Sources", The New York Sun, April 4, 2007, accessed June 23, 2007. Hatfill's lawyers have complied with the order, as reported on April 18 by Gerstein, who warns that a "free press battle looms," as The reporters in jeopardy now are expected to defy Hatfill's subpoenas and any court order to name their sources. ... one critical issue will be whether Judge Walton imposes fines on the news organizations involved. ... A First Amendment battle could possibly be avoided: The government and Dr. Hatfill's lawyers asked Walton to name a mediator to explore a possible settlement of the case. ... No one has been charged in the anthrax attacks, which killed at least five people.Josh Gerstein, "Free Press Battle Looms in Hatfill Case", The New York Sun, April 18, 2007, accessed June 23, 2007. Guantanamo captives' habeas petitions On August 21 2009 Reuters reported that Walton issued a ruling about "hearsay evidence" that applied to all the Guantanamo detaines' habeas petitions before him. Much of the evidence the Department of Justice is presenting the habeas petitions is hearsay evidence. Walton wrote: United States v. Roger Clemens On August 30, 2010, USA Today reported that Walton arraigned former major-league pitcher Roger Clemens on charges of lying to Congress (three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury, and one count of obstruction of Congress) about the use of performance-enhancing substances. According to the Associated Press, the trial before Walton and a jury is scheduled for July, 2011, and prosecutors have brought up the conflict of interest that is presented by defense attorney Rusty Hardin's having briefly represented Andy Pettite, who is expected to be an important witness for the government. See also *2001 Anthrax attacks *CIA leak grand jury investigation *Lewis Libby *National Prison Rape Elimination Commission *Steven Hatfill *United States v. Libby Notes and references External links * USCourts.gov - 'Judge Reggie B. Walton' (official US Court biography) * RawStory.com - 'Former FBI whistleblower files against judge in Libby trial over secrecy issues', Ron Brynaert, Raw Story (March 22, 2006) * Slate.com - 'Free Scooter Libby: The case gets weirder by the day,' By Christopher Hitchens (June 18, 2007) Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Washington College of Law alumni Category:Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Category:African American judges Category:West Virginia State College alumni Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Category:United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush Category:Judges presiding over Guantanamo habeas petitions